


We were lovers for a month. (Then he left)

by DragonEyez



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Break Up, M/M, Season: Spring in Hieron, Spring in Hieron Spoilers, emmanuel deserves better, lem king is a bastard and he needs to face the consequences of his actions, sih18 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-05 03:13:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17910923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonEyez/pseuds/DragonEyez
Summary: lem gets back from the Isles, and emmanuel wants to talk





	We were lovers for a month. (Then he left)

**Author's Note:**

> title from [grey](https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/grey-2/) by c.p. cavafy
> 
> i was sitting on the train from köln back home and cranked this out in like twenty minutes while i was listening to the lemmanuel conversation and i wanted emmanuel to want Better and frankly, lem, a bastard man.

Lem hadn’t felt the years as keenly as he did in that moment. Eight years spent in paradise in a sword around a god hadn’t seemed like quite a long time. Especially given how days and years had run together in the near fever dream of his frantic research. But he was quickly realising that those eight years, long as they were, did not compare to Emmanuel’s ten hard years spent struggling just to survive as food, medicine, and even just _heat_ were nearly impossible to reach, let alone hold on to. They spanned the distance between them. The table felt more like a vast expanse of water keeping him from even attempting to reach out and just _hold_ Emmanuel’s hand.

"Emmanuel.“ He licked his lips, tried to choose his words carefully. "Emmanuel, what you’re asking of me…“

" _Tristero, Lem_!“ Emmanuel threw his hands up, clearly displeased. "What I’m _asking_ of you is no more than what should be _expected_ of you! To stay is not a complicated or demanding request! A week, two, a month, this is not unreasonable! I'm am not asking as some jealous lover demanding your attention rest solely on me! I only wish for you to be _here_ and to be present.“

"Yes, but-"

"But _what_ , Lem? All I want is to be able to go to work and come home and sleep next to you and know that I won’t come home to news about how you _died_ on some 'adventure' that your quote-unquote friends took you on that you got in over your heads with and couldn’t wiggle your way out of!“

Lem found himself taken aback, silenced as he watched Emmanuel’s chest heave with breath as he finished his rant. He didn’t know how to respond. There wasn’t a right way to do this, or a right thing to say. There wasn’t some magical solution to the rift growing between them.

"I don’t know. And that sounds terrible, and I _know_ it sounds terrible. I have _never_ stayed in one place since I was a child, and especially not since I left the Archives over two decades ago! I don’t know how to be _still_ anymore.“

"That’s bullshit." 

"I know.“

"No, I don’t think you actually do _Lem King_. And _that_ is your problem. You like to think you know, but not actually knowing is why you have so many problems. It is why Nacre burned, and why Rosemarrow burned, and why I had to _ask_ if you brought down the moon." Emmanuel sighed and reached across the table to envelope on of Lem’s hands with his own. "Please know I do not blame you. It has been too long and I have much more important things to worry about, but I need you to understand how your actions affect others.“

"I understand.“

"Then why can you not give me a simple answer? Hadrian gave Rosanna one, and he has been mobile much longer than you.“

"Emmanuel, I am not Hadrian. And it’s like you said: Everywhere I go, things fall to pieces. Hell, I flooded my own home in an accident that got too out of control that I didn’t know how to fix, and now the world is flooded. Why should I risk that here, where you are?“ 

His hand fell against the table. Across from him, Emmanuel’s face was shuttered, and Lem watched as he pulled back into himself. Lem tried to reach back out but quickly withdrew as he received a withering look. 

"No, you are certainly not Hadrian, nor was I asking you to be. He has his priorities, and he knows them well. If you cannot over me even a week’s time, I cannot continue this. We have been here over a decade, ensuring that this University does not crumble, you presence would have only benefited us, but I cannot force your hand, and I will not allow my heart to continue to be broken. Live well, Lem King."

Lem was left alone, message box laying on the table where Emmanuel had vanished.

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know if theres any inverted quotation marks bc i wrote this in my notes and it auto did those and i think i caught them all but also ive been looking at this for a Minute
> 
> as always, comments and constructive criticism are always welcome and i can be found [here](https://theunacceptablepylades.tumblr.com/) on tumblr or [@thedaedpoets](https://twitter.com/thedaedpoets) on twitter and if you like what i do, consider buying me a [coffee](https://ko-fi.com/queerlydeparted)


End file.
